France says Syrian regime leaders will answer for ‘murderous folly’

The leaders of the Syrian regime will have to answer for their “murderous folly,” the French president’s office said Monday, adding that Paris will be hosting the next Friends of Syria meeting.

“The Houla massacre and the events of the these last days in Syria and in Lebanon illustrate, once more, the danger of Bashar al-Assad’s regime’s actions for the Syrian people,” said a statement.

“The murderous folly of the Damascus regime represents a threat for regional security and its leaders will have to answer for their acts,” it added.

France will host a Friends of Syria meeting in Paris, the statement said, a day after President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron held talks on the crisis.

The two leaders had agreed to work closely together to increase pressure on Assad, the statement said.

And Hollande will discuss Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits Paris on Friday, the statement added.

While Russia signed up to Sunday’s U.N. Security Council resolution, it has been condemned for having vetoed two rounds of sanctions against Assad’s regime and continues to supply arms to its Soviet-era ally.

On Sunday, the U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the Syrian government for using artillery in the massacre at Houla, central Syria, where 49 of the victims were children.

Syria has denied any responsibility and said it will launch an investigation into the carnage that took place on Friday and Saturday.

The statement from the French president’s office did not say when the Friends of Syria meeting would take place.

The United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Arab nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar are leading members of the Friends, which has held several meetings calling for tougher action against the Assad regime.

Syria’s main opposition coalition called on Monday for countries that support the anti-regime uprising to honor their promises by helping Syrians defend themselves.

“The Syrian National Council calls (on) brothers and friends of the Syrian people to help before it’s too late,” the exiled group said in a statement, calling for effective means of “self-defense to stop the demolition of Syrian society.”